Recent Opinions

It’s time to call all of these hate acts against people of color what they are: acts of terrorism. We must stop tiptoeing around this word, terrorism, which makes us uncomfortable, because the use of the word “terrorism” to describe the actions of part of the American population will make its perpetrators aware of our hypocrisy.

Growing up, I longed for people to view me as intelligent. I loved being associated with the adjective smart, and I, in turn, also complimented others’ intelligences freely. It wasn’t until later that I realized how damaging and invalidating that simple praise could be.

OPINIONS

Editorial: What to do about Caltrain

Caltrain moves an average of 44,000 passengers per weekday up and down the San Francisco Peninsula. It is also an extremely efficient form of transit, covering 44 percent of its costs through fares, a higher percentage than any other Bay Area transit operation except for BART. Administrative costs for Caltrain are among the lowest of local transit agencies. More importantly, Caltrain alleviates the need for 2.5 lanes of traffic on local highways and requires roughly half as much fuel per passenger-mile as automobiles.

Despite its importance and success, Caltrain is in trouble. Due to a lack of dedicated funding, the commuter rail line is facing the possibility of a $30 million budget gap. Caltrain’s proposed solution would eliminate all weekend and non-rush hour service, as well as up to 16 stations. Instead of watching one of the Peninsula’s most important public institutions flounder, local governments, citizens and students must work together to ensure that Caltrain receives the level of funding and respect it deserves.

Unlike other public transportation systems, Caltrain is not funded by a dedicated source such as a sales or gas tax. In place of such a source, Caltrain receives 34 percent of its funding from three other agencies: the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), San Mateo County Transit District and City and County of San Francisco. This year, however, the agencies are expected to reduce their contributions by approximately $10 million each in order to cover their own financial obligations, leading to the $30 million deficit.

There are many responsible ways to approach this problem, but none of them involve large cuts in service. Elimination of weekend service alone would force roughly 18,000 passengers to seek new transportation options. The proposed cuts would make getting to and from San Francisco International Airport via train impossible during afternoons, evenings and weekends. Stanford students who rely on Caltrain to access the airport, as well as the city of San Francisco, would have to buy or borrow cars. Baseball fans also have reason to worry. Without nighttime service, 417,000 passengers per season would have to find alternate transportation to San Francisco Giants games.

The VTA has proposed several alternatives including selling some of Caltrain’s less active stations and using money set aside for the inactive Dumbarton Rail project. The VTA has also offered to pay back a $7.4 million loan from Caltrain. Taken together, these proposals might be able to delay the most drastic service cuts, but they are not a long-term solution. What Caltrain needs is stable, dedicated funding that is not conditional on the goodwill and solvency of other agencies.

A dedicated source of funding for Caltrain is not just a way out of this year’s budget crisis. By reducing the variability of its revenues, Caltrain will be able to plan and make year-to-year investments without worrying about large deficits that do not result from changes in its revenues or expenditures. Of course, nothing in life is free, so where should this money come from?

Paired with modest reductions in weekend service, a broad-based tax to meet Caltrain’s budgetary requirements wouldn’t need to be large. Local governments should explore funding Caltrain with a one-half to one-cent gas tax, which would have the added benefit of reducing traffic congestion and carbon emissions. Congestion and carbon emissions both impose huge externalities on society. During rush hour in urban areas, an additional car trip can cost up to $200 in other drivers’ wasted time. Climate change resulting from carbon emissions will likely cost trillions of dollars over the next century. Pricing these ills would be a good idea even if Caltrain were not desperate for money.

Stanford University and the Bay Area that surrounds it can rightly claim to be wonderful places to live. Part of what makes them great is quick train service between San Francisco and San Jose, and a regrettable aspect of life here is traffic congestion on the freeways. Keeping Caltrain service robust should be one of the top priorities for local officials.

About Editorial Board

Editorials represent the views of The Stanford Daily, an independent newspaper serving Stanford and the surrounding community. The Daily's Editorial Board is chaired by President and Editor in Chief George Chen, who is joined by Executive Editor Marshall Watkins, Managing Editor of News Catherine Zaw, Managing Editor of Sports Do-Hyoung Park and Managing Editor of Opinions Winston Shi.
To contact the Editorial Board chair, submit an op-ed (limited to 700 words) or submit a letter to the editor (limited to 500 words) at eic@stanforddaily.com.

If Caltrain ceased weekend operations and there is no alternative public transportation to take its place, then Stanford will have to rewrite their literature that states how easy it is to get to SanFrancisco. One very nice advantage of going to Stanford is being able to hop that train to visit one of the most incredible cities in the world.

Martin

I am ready for Caltrain 2.0! Like any other business, there comes a time to trim “dead wood”, and rebuild from the foundation. In my opinion, any train running less than half full, is dead wood.

Let’s stop trying to prop up old fictitious schedules, rebuild the railroad, and run trains based on “real” demand.

Its time for Caltrain 2.0!!

Somik Raha

Building on Martin’s practical suggestions, this article follows an advocacy-driven decision-making style, which is a low quality form of decision-making. Instead of advocacy, we should be focusing on identifying where the value lies. Caltrain does not matter in and of itself, but in the services it provides to its passengers. In so far as Caltrain’s decision-making remains disconnected from its users (by having governmental bodies which have all sorts of considerations that have nothing to do with the welfare of commuters), it will remain in this mess, with distorted and isolated decision-making.

The big alternative that no one has written about is to to sell off Caltrain. After all, Silicon Valley is the land of entrepreneurs. Why on earth should government be in the business of providing transportation? Surely, some VCs can fund a company to take over Caltrain, restructure and run it as a successful business.

Steven Ng

Who is John Galt?

Submissions

Letters to the editor: E-mail Editor in Chief Joseph Beyda at eic@stanforddaily.com. Signed letters only. Students and alums, please include class year for publication. Non-students, please include city or University affiliation for publication. All: please include evening telephone number (not for publication). Word limit for letters: 500.

Op-eds: E-mail Managing Editor of Opinions Aimee Trujillo at opinions@stanforddaily.com. Students and alums, please include class year for publication. Non-students, please include city or University affiliation for publication. All: please include evening telephone number (not for publication). Word limit for op-eds: 700.

Opinions Columnists

Nick Ahamed The Muckraker

Mark Bessen The Fault in Our Systems

Winston ShiA More Perfect Union

Mysia AndersonEvolving

Johnathan Bowes Super Tuesday

Aimee TrujilloSuper Tuesday

Veronica Anorve Super Tuesday

Neil ChaudharyDouble Take

Mina ShahWednesdays in the World

Raven JiangQuoth the Raven

That’s what we said

Until we build a culture where mental health is urgently and openly discussed — and we are well on our way — the demand for CAPS will only grow. Students, accustomed to some of the best student services in the world, expect better from what is supposed to be the University’s last line of defense. —Vol. 247 Editorial Board